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Summer. Finally, vacation! It was about... seven years ago. We had gone on a pilgrimage with the whole family, and each of us carried in mind or heart a dream, a longing for saints, for wonderful places and dear people we would meet.
Long distances make us strain our eyes out the car window, at the landscapes rushing by with us. But children also get bored. Stories, discussions... but it seems there's also room for some games! I search my 'inspiration drawer' to find some on-the-spot activities or games that fit the pilgrimage we're on. We start a few attention games: I tell a short story about a yet unknown saint, and then I ask three questions based on what I said. Whoever knows the answers wins and takes over.
Then, the advanced version: I sneak in a few mistakes in the story of the saint's life, and whoever corrects them wins and starts the next round.
Then, a kind of spiritual 'fazan' (a word chain game): I say a word, and each person, in turn, continues with the first thought that springs to mind or soul upon hearing the word spoken by the one before them. This game has a super dynamic, it's simple even for the youngest, and very... revealing, because we are all amazed by what inner springs we carry within us and how things, emotions, experiences, inner representations connect! For example, Father says: 'Chalice'. Me: 'Life'. S.: 'Light'. N.: 'Joy'. A.: 'Mother of God'. I: 'Church'. M.: 'In Mama's arms!'. E. (grabs me by the neck and leaves a sticky kiss of love on my cheek): 'Mamaaa...'. And again, Father: 'Love'. S.: 'Patience'. N.: 'Confession'... and so on, each one reveals an extraordinary representation, with an unexpected core, for each spiritual word, seemingly even more spiritual through the way it responds in the other's inner echo. Each spiritual reality becomes alive, becomes emotion and self-discovery, of latent truth. I truly recommend you play this unpretentious, dynamic, and effective game with your children! You will enjoy and be amazed.
However, I absolutely want to talk to you about another game, because it has already become tangible now. It is about Let's become friends with the Saints!
I say three or four details from a saint's life, without mentioning their name, and the others pay attention. Whoever knows which saint I spoke about and says their name first wins and starts a new round, about another saint. And so on, choosing more well-known saints for the younger ones and lesser-known saints (or new details) for the older ones. Children get involved in this game, and every vacation, we play it in the car. But they like it so much that, out of the desire to include others, plus the joy of making more and more saints known to more and more children, I decided to put the activity into a material form, like a card game!
I know how eager I am on Sundays to play a family game. And I always think (during a 'Rummy' or 'Uno' or... 'Proverbs Game') how great it would be to also have Christian games that, in a playful way — as children generally feel — would bring them closer to the Church, to the Saints. So they wouldn't seem distant and intangible, but rather close and understandable to them. Like an invitation.
That's why I refreshed the initial inspirational ideas a bit, painted scenes from the lives of saints, enriched the knowledge about them with new information, and absolutely 'stitched together' some sets of rules, because I saw how much 'the rules thing' fascinates children! I also slipped in some 'subliminal' messages, such as: 'Whoever wins names three qualities of the one in last place'. Or: 'Whoever wins shares the chocolate of friendship (Măriuca invented it) with all participants'.
I was so happy to see how it took shape and how many children enjoyed it on June 1st! I would like it to be as useful as possible in many Christian families, and I believe that in Religion class, it can be a very practical material support to help students develop, in an engaging and pleasant way, a general culture about the lives of saints.
And now, I'll confess something from the heart. What impressed me most was that, when I was working on this game, I felt the blessing of the saint for whom I was working at the time. During the day, I didn't intensely perceive this, as the little ones made a lot of noise around me. But at night, when silence fell, it was so evident! I clearly realized this when I transitioned from working on Saint Ephrem to the little books for Saint Paisius. Simply put, my inner state transformed from one truly experienced spiritual fragrance into another. And then another, and another, depending on the saint I was working on. I felt mysteriously accompanied by the Saint whose fragments of life I was portraying in images or words. How wonderful the saints are! Each one – a unique breath of grace! Each one – a distinct aspect of the Holy Spirit's presence!
How blessed our lives would become if we were to interweave all that is ours with that of the Saints!
Maria Tudor